Pocahontowl
by ezyl
Summary: This is how we saved it all. The forest, the river, the cataclysmic event involving both the owl and raccoon worlds... REPOSTED ON FicPress.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer (I keep forgetting to add these): I don't own the notion of owls talking.**

**A/N: Well normally I don't do Author's Notes but I'm just warning you that this story is as non-canon as it gets. It has nothing to do with the original characters, plot, or anything. It's in a different forest setting and no familiar scenes are shown. There, I've told you. And oh yeah, this story was originally an assignment for school _("write a fairy tale") _and my teacher requested it to be maximum 6 pages, double-spaced. So its really rushed and I had to squeeze in an epilogue.**

**Enjoy.**

**ezyl's girl**

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The silver light of the moon, shrouded by the thin dregs of vaporous mist, appeared, as if in a trance, over the darkened mass that formed into the Hills of Alba.

Unlike regular grassy mounds, the Hills of Alba were constructed of rocky outcroppings that stuck out into the western wind like blades into the silky fabric of night. There was scarcely a shrub in sight.

Of course, like any other dark figure, the hills possessed another side. A much warmer, lusher, and greener side; for indeed, beneath the eastern ridge of the hills, was a beautiful, swaying forest, home to the most ingenious creatures of the world. The Forest of Caelestis.

And in this dense forest of light and darkly colored aspens, there was an on going war that caused eruption through the fragile ecosystem it was built on. It was a war against the creatures of flight and the animals of land. A war that no one could've stopped, a war that would've gone on forever had not a single tawny-feathered owl been there to close it to a screeching halt…

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**So what do you think? Boring, isn't it. Oh yeah, if you don't approve of cross-species couples, don't read any further.**

**Oh yeah and review. Put as many flamers in as possible. I find criticism will probably ease me out of this Writer's Block.**


	2. Part I: Owl Meets World

**A/N: Well then, here we go. And I'm placing in a request that someone give me an idea of what to do next for Dancing in the Vines. I think its kinda cute to have Soren's parents names (Noctus and Marilla) flipped.**

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Part I: Owl Meets World

It was the year 322, OT (Owl Time). At the southern bend of River of Alba, in the southern corner of the forest in which the tall, looming fir trees grew, there was a family of whiskered screech owls celebrating the hatching of an owlet.

"I hope it's a female," Marcus Cunicularia, the owl of the family, hooted. He twiddled with his snowy white whiskers and fidgeted around the nest in anticipation. Flecks of ginger white down fluttered everywhere, "And I hope she realizes that her da is the best father of Caelestis!"

"How narcissistic," Nocta, Marcus' mate said softly. She churred happily and her voice grew stronger to match the tones of the baby owlet's arrogant father, "and, I, of course, wish for a flamboyant male. It would do to have some more hunting done around the nest. Vole season is coming, and I can already feel the brush of soft vole fur against my gizzard."

Ella, the soon-to-be big sister, licked her beaks in fervor. She was nestled in fluffy cranny in the corner of the large mass of sticks that made up the families hollow in a giant fir tree, and was currently crunching on a hard, wriggly centipede. It squirmed down her gullet; making the soft, brown breast feathers that inhabited her front heave in delight.

And amid the gentle bicker and soft churrs, the white egg, placed in the center of the hollow, became luminescent as the moon's glow hardened and struck its smooth surface.

And, as if the moon itself had become a blade, the smooth, unblemished covering of the egg shuddered, and then a slight, inky crack emerged among glowing white. A young baby owl's egg tooth peeped out of the tiny crevice. It shimmered in the silver light around it, and it wriggled around, as if blindly trying to grope for its mother.

Then a wave of wriggling overcame the egg, and it cracked open, revealing the badly proportioned head of a baby owlet, damp with birthing juices of its mother.

A collective gasp overtook the nest of whiskered screech owls. The birthing of an owl lifted a heavy weight and dropped it upon their shoulders. There, before them, nestled among the collection of dried leaves and soft animal furs, was a newborn owl, an owl not prepared for the world, an owl that possessed an extremely pure conscience.

Marcus was the first to break the silence.

"Oh, racdrops," he uttered a curse, glaring at the little ball of down beside his talons, "it's a male."

"Marcus, don't you ever swear in front of…of," Nocta, gleeful of the birthing of a male owl, rifled through her mind in search of a new name.

"Of?" Ella murmured softly, eyes open wide and peering at her new baby brother with interest.

"…of…of, Leo."

The thought _Leo?_ simultaneously crossed all three of the owls' mind.

_One day Leo will hate me for giving him that name, _Nocta thought sadly.

_That's a terrible name,_ Marcus thought bitterly.

_Leo?_ Ella was appalled at her mum's bad taste.

"Leo," said Leo. He clacked his beak approvingly.

And thus was Leo's first word.

The four occupants of the fir tree hollow were thoroughly enraptured.

_So_ thoroughly enraptured, in fact, that they did not immediately realize the sudden silence that had stolen over their clump of fir trees. A silence that seemed to muffle the running water of the distant Alba River, and capture the twittering of every bird and the scampering sounds of every creature on the ground. A deathly silence.

And, all too quickly, the family began to hear the swift sound of pattering footfalls against the thick trunk of their fir tree, the ragged breathing and putrid stink of a predator, and the pounding of a fast-paced heart.

Time seemed to speed up. And as Ella would reflect, upon the later years to come, no matter how she thought of it, this scene would still be a leaf out of a daymare.

A masked furry outline of a shaggy raccoon emerged over the rim of the hollow. The huge, sunken eyes of the creature seemed to radiate hatred, dislike, and venom. An enormous red berry stain blossomed out into the fur between its ears. A member, no doubt, of the dreaded raccoon clan. The sworn enemies of the owls.

The vendetta between the owls and raccoons began about seventy-some years earlier, when Augustus Raco was heavily insulted by Drakonis Tyto in a leaf wine barroom brawl. The two had been best of friends for the most of their lives, but had now turned against each other to set the record for the longest known grudge-turned-war of the country. Thus was how the cataclysmic war of Caelestis had begun.

And as their (unwelcome) furry guest arrived upon the families rejoice, Marcus knew that this would not turn out pretty. Far from that.

And soon a scene of bloody terror unfolded. The cries of "NO! NOT LEO!" echoed across the forest's vegetation and the sound of wings desperately flapping against the night carried across the wind.

And as the night air came whooshing back from the silence and the regular chatter of critters resumed, witnesses can confirmed the fact that, after the disaster, only a scampering of paws, lumbering across the rooted landscape of the forest with something clamped firmly within its mouth, could be heard.

But, if one had asked the cricket that lived beside the river, he would try all his might to convince you that he had heard, though vaguely, the timid flapping of wings from a young owl leave the scene of crime.

Incidentally, the elderly cricket would have been right. Those wing beats were from none other than Ella Cunicularia's feathers.

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**If you don't like it so far, DO comment and flame. I've got a helluva headache.**


	3. Part II: Owl Saves Forest

**A/N: Yes. Here's the end. Did anyone bother to answer my request yet?**

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PART II: Owl Saves Forest

The raccoon clan of the Forest of Caelestis lived in the bushes that grew upon Northern Shores of the River Alba, and usually spent the last dregs of the day fishing on the banks. This was a tawdry task, and it was best left to the young and elderly (for the dominant males venture out and hunt among the forest undergrowth), as it was considered a rather boring and slow past time.

Though, of course, this was greatly improved when a new arrival descended upon the clan. An animal that could fly, to be exact.

Yes, _Leo_.

The little owlet should think himself to be lucky that, on the fateful evening in which he was kidnapped across the forest, a tight skirmish had developed among the violent raccoon clan (a curious notion of whether there was a world outside the forest or not), causing his captor to drop his prey and join his fellow friends in the argument.

The little owl had then been forced into the paws of a much friendlier raccoon. Her name was Rosa, and she had glossy, trimmed fur; unlike his previous captor, who had nothing but matted and dirt-streaked hair. This raccoon had taken little Leo in and nursed him to become a strong little owlet, and, though she herself could not, taught Leo to capture the air underneath his wings and soar.

And so, this particular afternoon, as the sun began to settle itself below the horizon, and as frequent snores from the raccoon clan were subsiding, Leo, once again had flopped himself towards the shores of the lake and had taken on his never-ending task of diving for the shimmering bellies of the white fish that swam just below the strong current of the Alba River. He gathered his wings and readied himself for flight, angling his wings just so.

The river of wind scooped him into the sky. Ah, bliss. Leo swooped and dived, thoroughly enjoying himself in the air before focusing on the task at hand. Then, without warning, he aimed himself at the shining strip of river below and plunged, rocketing towards the water…

He broke the surface of the crisp, cool wetness, a white-bellied fish flopping around hopelessly in his beak.

"Bravo!" Someone cried, a female voice, no doubt, from above. It was Bells; a raccoon Leo thought was quite beautiful. And as the sleek, furry face of Bells looked down at his damp, feathery head; Leo's heart thumped a lively jig.

"Why, hello there," he sputtered, before realizing that he was biting into the flesh of the fish. He spat the fish out with a slight grimace.

She laughed, a melodious growl escaping her furry face.

He churred nervously, and hopped out onto the beach, drying himself off efficiently by ruffling his feathers. Splatters of water droplets invaded Bells' fur.

Both friends laughed at each other's wet faces.

"Go on, then," Bells giggled softly, "I wouldn't want Abbot mewling at me again." And Leo, accompanied by Bells, resumed the tedious job of fishing.

Abbot was a handsome, fierce, and arrogant raccoon. He was the model male. Leo hated him. Everyone (including Abbot himself) claimed that he would one day take Bells, the resident raccoon beauty, as a mate. It was lucky that Bells despised Abbot too.

And while Leo was shooting repeatedly out of the water, fish after fish glinting in the rapidly setting sun, he didn't notice, like the times before, that he was being watched.

For, perched on a distant trembling aspen, a young female whiskered screech was watching him through narrowed eyes.

A lot had occurred in the past year for Ella. She had grown from a fledgling to a tall, looming, beautiful owl; and had rapidly risen through the owl military ranks to become a general official to the Owl Clan Leader (a barn owl by the name of Brune) herself. She had taken to studying the ancient arts of owl battle, and had quickly begun adept at fast-paced stick fighting.

At the moment, her sharp, thick talons were clenched tightly around the branch of an aspen as she watched her brother churr and jest with a sworn owl enemy. This was too much. Not only was her brother jeopardizing her occupation, he was also putting his life on the line too. After Ella had become General, she had started a laborious search of the Forest for her brother. After many months of watching and spying, one of her emissaries had finally informed Ella of the rumor of an owl among the raccoons. She had rushed forward to chance a glance at Leo, and here he was, becoming _friends _with the enemy!

_It's funny how these things occur,_ Ella mused, before she alerted her troops.

Torrents of owls streamed forward, out onto the northern banks of the River Alba. They were all sporting thick, sharpened, oak sticks. Unsurprisingly, the honed points were pointed directly at Bells.

Of course, Bells was trained in this kind of attack, having grown up in an animal society where such invasions were more probable than likely. She immediately stood up from the ankle-deep, blue water surrounding her paws and splashed towards the bank, where Leo was currently emptying his beak of scales. She grabbed him from the ground at lightning speed and inserted his neck into her jaws. Despite his protests, she sped off towards the shelter of the dense, clustered trees before the beaches.

"Explain," Raco, Clan Leader of the raccoons and father of Bells, boomed in a sullen voice. He glanced towards Abbot, who was curled up around the opening of the Council Den. Abbot growled in a pompous fashion that made Leo shiver.

"Honored Father," Bells began, "Leo and I," – She gestured towards Leo – "were finishing our assigned task of fishing for the clan when an unexpected invasion startled us. The owls looked as if they were ready to kill…"

At this, Raco had jumped to his paws and silenced her with a wave of his paw.

"Judging from your point, dear Bells, I sense that we need to reinforce our defenses," he growled in a stiff manner.

"Chief," Abbot spoke from in front the patch of violet sky, "I have the sudden impression that Leo has something to do with this. In fact," he licked his paws and glanced flirtatiously at Bells, "I believe that he had sent those owls to attack us."

And with that, Leo was seized gruffly around his neck feathers and hurtled towards the execution stone at breakneck speed.

"Abbot had warned me of this," Raco thundered, the ragged fringes of his hairy chin clearly visible before Leo's eyes as his head was pressed roughly against the surface of the stone, "And I know I appeared too sentimental for my own good."

Bells was having an argument with herself, and then seemed to stiffen in decision.

"STOP!" She cried, and pushed her father off of Leo. She laid her head on top of his heaving backside, and glared at the clan leader.

Ah. The forest's first cross-species relationship.

And, of course, there were more to come.

And such was how the war of the Forest of Caelestis had ended. Peacefulness between the owl and raccoon clan leaders.

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**I know. It's such a HORRIBLE story. I'm probably gonna get an F on it or something. Ah well. The epilogue is coming soon, for those who care. Oh yeah and do review.**


	4. Epilogue

**Please comment on this. I know it's terrible but ah well.**

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Epilogue of Leo

Two Years Later

Must there be an explanation for everything? Must there be a reason for love?

For love can be in the most unusual circumstances. I should know, being a patron of this kind of love.

And as I glance towards the beautiful fur coat of the love of my life, I've never experienced this love in any deeper condition.

Of course, I know we'll never yield children, but that doesn't stand before me. Or her.

We love each other, and that's all that counts.

And besides, we can always adopt an owlet or something.

And as I hear her say my name, I feel exuberant and alive.

"LEO!"

"Yes?"

"Come hunting with me!"

My sister has finally gotten over her stereotype too. She's recently taken a new acquisition.

Yes, Abbot. Though I fail to see how this could have occurred.

"LEO?"

But that's a different story.

FIN

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**There you have it. The end.**


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